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At sixes and sevens over PSLE Maths
Author: Nur Dianah Suhaimi
Source: The Sunday Times
Date: 21 Oct 2007
As far as parents and pupils are concerned, PSLE Maths papers often just don't add up.
Howls of outrage greeted this year's test, with mums and dads fuming and some pupils in tears outside the exam room.
Parents also cried foul in 2005, after a flawed question slipped into the paper.
In 2000, about 25 angry parents called The Straits Times to complain about the paper being too difficult.
And in 1992, the Ministry of Education was criticised when parents raged about tough questions.
It all looks like a standard formula: tricky questions plus nervy pupils and expectant parents multiplied by exam pressure equal tears and ill temper.
Why do parents and pupils have problems with the PSLE Maths paper?
Mr Tan Yap Kwang, chief executive of the Singapore Examinations and Assessment Board (SEAB), offers this explanaton: "For Maths, if you don't understand the question or the concept tested, you cannot even start solving the sum. For English or Mother Tongue, you can always guess an answer."
A maths teacher, who declined to be named, said: "Maths is the one subject pupils can possibly score 100 marks for, unlike English. So it devastates them when they cannot do well."
Mr Tan, who feels parents are over-reacting, said this year's paper was no tougher than in other years. "Sometimes pupils have very high expectations for themselves. Not being able to answer one question is like the end of the world."
Ten parents and former teachers complained to The Straits Times Forum page that some sums were not in the syllabus.
Mr Tan said the PSLE must differentiate between pupils of different abilities: "It'd be a problem if 30% of the cohort scores full marks. Then how do you differentiate between the average student and the brightest of the lot?"
Ten teachers told The Sunday Times they had never seen so many pupils crying after a PSLE paper.
One admitted that she needed a calculator to solve one of the sums. Pupils are not allowed to use them.
A teacher was called into the exam hall after a top pupil broke down and wanted to quit. But Mr Norman Tien, a PSLE Maths trainer, said: "Most students are drilled to do past exam papers If they come across a question they've never seen before, they'll think it's difficult."
At least 95% of a cohort should be able tackle the basic questions, Mr Tan said, while the last few "challenging" sums are aimed at the brighter ones.
Pupils should not fret if they cannot answer some questions. Mr Tan said: "You don't need to answer every one correctly to get an A*."
Just how do these sums add up?
The Singapore Examinations and Assessment Board declined to give The Sunday Times the questions for this year's PSLE Maths paper.
The questions below were provided by the pupils who sat for the paper. The Maths paper had 48 questions and pupils were given 2 hours and 15 minutes to complete it.
(1) Shop A has 156 kg of rice. Shop B has 72 kg of rice. After both shops sold an equal amount of rice, the ratio of rice that Shop A has to Shop B is 4 : 1.
Find the amount of rice sold by the shops. (3 marks)
(2) 6 / 14 of the chairs in a hall are in rows of 13. Half of the chairs are in rows of 7. There are 112 more chairs in rows of 7. The rest of the chairs are stacked up. Find the total number of chairs. (5 marks)
(3) Tank A is filled with water to its brim. Water is then poured from Tank A to Tank B until both share the same height. What is the height? (4 marks)
Answers: (1) 44 kg (2) 1,568 chairs (3) 25 cm
Tough for average pupil: Ex-teacher
Retired teacher Ho Kong Loon, 60, who taught at the Primary 6 level for 40 years, thought the questions are difficult for the average pupil.
"I took 19 minutes, or 14% of the total time, to complete the 3 questions. Unlike pupils who took the exam, I was not under any pressure and worked ... with a calculator.
Straightforward, say 2 students
The top PSLE student in 2005, Adil Hakeem Mohd Rafee, and his younger brother, Arif Izzuddin, a Primary 5 pupil, had no problems with the questions.
Adil Hakeem, who is now in Secondary 2, said: "These are rather straightforward questions."
Arif Izzuddin, 11, took less than 20 minutes to solve all 3 questions. "I've been exposed to this type of questions in school, so solving them was not a problem. I'm quite surprised so many Primary 6 pupils cried after their Maths paper."
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